Calle Aralia

The aralia gives its name to this short street in the Hispanoamérica district. The term covers a genus of shrubs and small trees with large, often thorny leaves that flower in umbels; many of its species ended up in courtyards and entrance halls as houseplants, prized for their glossy foliage more than for their flowers. Where the word Aralia came from was never clear, and its etymology remains undocumented. The name fits a detail of Madrid’s street map: in this corner of Chamartín, streets named after plants and flowers abound. Aralia is one of those small green names the passerby scarcely links to the pot in the hallway.